This year’s GeoSiberia was a milestone for the organizers, the
tenth edition and this event has grown to become a recognized forum,
one that combines an international exhibition and scientific
conference, providing participants to gather annually and the
opportunity to make and renew friendships, to debate and demonstrate
the utility and usefulness of geospatial sciences, technologies and
practices for sustainable national development and nation building.
FIG President CheeHai Teo gave a plenary speech and also visited the
Siberian State Academy of Geodesy.

News in 2014

10th Interexpo GEOSiberia “Advanced Geospatial and
Information Technologies for Environmental Management and Sustainable
Territorial Development” and visit to Siberian State Academy of Geodesy

15 – 18 April 2014, Novosibirsk, Russia

This year’s GeoSiberia was a milestone for the organizers, the tenth
edition and this event has grown to become a recognized forum, one that
combines an international exhibition and scientific conference, providing
participants to gather annually and the opportunity to make and renew
friendships, to debate and demonstrate the utility and usefulness of
geospatial sciences, technologies and practices for sustainable national
development and nation building.

At the opening ceremony of GeoSiberia 2014

FIG President CheeHai Teo accepted an invitation from the Rector,
Prof. Dr. Alexander P. Karpik and his colleagues and co-workers at
the Siberian State Academy of Geodesy (SSGA) to visit the Academy and
participate in the 10th edition of Interexpo GeoSiberia. Joining the FIG
President at the event was Dr. Ivo Milev, Chair-elect FIG Commission
6 and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Volker Schwieger, Chair-elect FIG Commission 5.

Prof. Igor A. Musikhin, SSGA Vice Rector for International
Affairs, met the President on arrival. During the visit to the Academy, the
President had a meeting with SSGA Rector together with colleagues from
ISPRS, ICA, ISDE and DVW. The President also met Prof. Vladimir A.
Seredovich, SSGA Vice Rector for Scientific and Innovative Activities.

At this event, SSGA hosted the ISPRS council meeting. The International
Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Council comprises Prof.
Chen Jun, President; Prof. Orhan Altan, First Vice-President,
Prof. Marguerite Madden, Second Vice-President; Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Christian Heipke, Secretary General and Prof Jon Mills,
Treasurer. The 10th Interexpo GeoSiberia also saw the participant of a
number of colleagues from fellow organisations within the Joint Board of
Geospatial Information Societies (JBGIS). International Cartographic
Association was represented by Prof. László Zentai, its Secretary
General and Treasurer; Prof. Dr. Milan Konecny, formerly President of
ICA, represented the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) and is
its current Vice President. Other notable colleagues at the 10th GeoSiberia
included Christof Rek, Vice President of DVW; Emeritus Prof. Gottfried Konecny, ISPRS Honorary Member and Prof. Dr.
Ammatzia Peled,
a former ISPRS Vice-President.

Meeting the students at the Siberian State Academy of Geodesy

Prof Karpik & Prof Musikhin at the Closing Ceremony

During the visit to the Academy, a forum was held with students of the
Academy and the President fielded a series of questions from them. During
the visit the President was shown the Planetarium within the Academy as well
as their laboratories on cadastral engineering and terrestrial laser
scanning. While at these laboratories, the President was not only shown the
projects and researches carried out, but also had some opportunities to
interact with post-graduate students at these laboratories.

The 10th Interexpo GeoSiberia was officiated by Vladimir F. Gorodetsky,
Deputy Governor of Novosibirsk Region, Prof. Dr. Alexander P. Karpik,
Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Rector of the Siberian State Academy
of Geodesy, Prof. Chen Jun, President of ISPRS, China, Christof
Rek, Vice President of DVW, Chairman of Regional Faction of Berlin of
the German Association of Publicly Appointed Surveyors (BDVI e.V.), Germany,
and the FIG President was also invited to make an opening remark on behalf
of FIG. Apart from thanking SSGA, the organisers and partners of 10th
GeoSiberia for their invitation and hospitality, the President commented
that better information of our territories leads to better knowledge that
can contribute towards informed policies, decisions and actions. And that
our sciences, technologies and practices are more than just ideals, gadgets
or tools but can be leveraged and harnessed to unlock the wealth of
knowledge about our society, environment and economy, contributing to a more
sustainable development within our territories.

The organizers also convened a meeting with Mr. V. Tolokonsky,
Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Siberian
Region. Mr Tolokonsky was thanked for his support and contribution that saw
the growth and development of GeoSiberia since the first event in 2005. This
has in turn contributed to continuing engagement and exchanges between SSGA,
international organisations such as FIG, between the local, national and
international professionals and practitioners. FIG President took the
opportunity to inform Mr. V. Tolokonsky of the upcoming United Nations
Resolution on Geodesy and commented that our worldwide professional
community looks forward to the support of the Russian Federation in the
successful passage of this UN Resolution.

International Federation of Surveyors, FIG, is a United Nations and World Bank recognized
non-governmental organization of national member associations
and covers the whole range of professional fields within the
global surveying community. It provides an international forum
for discussion and development aiming to promote professional
practice and standards.